The Way of Restraint

Chapter 198: My Realm Is Beyond Your Understanding

“Qin Hui’s strength is not bad; he’s almost approaching the level of the Punishment, Kong Dian.” Su Jie didn’t underestimate Qin Hui.

As Qin Hui attacked, the dagger flashed with a cold light, striking through the air with the ferocious aura of an ancient assassin—Jing Ke assassinating the King, never to return. For a college student to be able to wield a dagger to such a degree was simply unbelievable.

Not to mention in a university, even among mercenary warriors, he would be considered a top-tier soldier.

While Qin Hui might not be very skilled in ring fighting, wielding a dagger with such power was unstoppable.

This aura greatly surprised Kaisi and the others.

Because they only saw a flash of cold light, they could hardly track the dagger’s trajectory.

If it were the old Su Jie, unarmed, he would likely have had a hard time dealing with such a skilled weapon user.

Back then, when he fought Kong Dian, the Punishment, they both wielded daggers, weapon against weapon. There was absolutely no such thing as disarming someone with bare hands unless there was a huge difference in strength; otherwise, it would result in severed limbs.

However, now he had seen Qin Hui’s trajectory.

As the dagger came, Su Jie’s entire being focused, his hand seemingly appearing out of nowhere, striking Qin Hui’s wrist with a “wheel-shaking” technique, intercepting it from mid-air.

Qin Hui’s entire wrist went numb; his fingers loosened, and the dagger fell to the ground.

Su Jie’s “wheel-shaking” technique transformed into “lifting a bucket,” like a farmer shaking a bucket to raise water from a well, then grabbing and lifting it away from the wellhead.

In Su Jie’s hand, Qin Hui was like the bucket, lifted up and dropped.

Buzz…

Qin Hui felt all the blood in his body, like water from the bucket, gushing out, rushing to his brain, and he immediately fainted. 

“What happened?” Cass stared at the unconscious Qin Hui, completely bewildered. She only saw Qin Hui swing his dagger at Su Jie, who parried it, then calmly grabbed Qin Hui, lifting and releasing him without actually throwing him to the ground. Yet, the instant Qin Hui was released, he was completely unconscious.

She even suspected the two were putting on a show.

“A divine skill, this is a divine skill!” Suddenly, the Asian interviewer exclaimed. “This is a sudden grab, lift, and drop, creating a moment of weightlessness, similar to jumping off a building. In that instant, blood rushes to the head, then the fall causes cerebral congestion and unconsciousness. There are no visible injuries, no external wounds. I’ve experienced this divine skill before with the Judo God—Master Omoto Musashi. Have you reached the divine level?”

The Air Throw is the Judo God’s signature technique.

In the Japanese Judo world, there’s an unwritten rule: whoever masters the Air Throw can inherit the title of Judo God. Long ago, Mifune Kyuzo was known as the God of Judo, but now, Omoto Muka is the new God of Judo.

Both can perform air throws.

Su Jie’s move, however, doesn’t exist in Judo, because practically no one can execute it.

This is the “pounding mortar” from Heart Intent Fist, a tool used in rural areas for pounding glutinous rice cakes.

In Tai Chi, there’s a move called “Vajra Pounding Mortar,” which uses similar force.

Grabbing someone and lifting them up instantly, the brain and internal organs, still in place due to inertia, create a dislocation, followed by a violent fall, another dislocation.

The lifting and falling can cause permanent damage to the brain and organs, even turning someone into a vegetable.

However, Su Jie didn’t do that; he only made Qin Hui unconscious, giving him a small lesson.

He didn’t expect that this Asian interviewer would actually see through the subtlety of this move.

Su Jie dealt with Qin Hui using three punches: “Rolling a Wheel” to block a dagger, “Lifting a Bucket” for a powerful grappling move, and “Pounding a Mortar” to render his opponent unconscious.

These three punches, delivered with lightning speed, appeared as simple and unadorned as an old farmer’s work.

The average person couldn’t perceive the subtlety within them; only a true master, immersed in martial arts for decades, could sense their power.

Undoubtedly, the Asian interviewer was one of those masters.

“Regardless, I’ve decided that Mr. Su Jie can definitely serve as the boss’s personal bodyguard, ensuring his safety,” the Asian interviewer said. “I’ll write a separate email to the boss about this.”

“I agree,” said Cass.

“Let’s still record his data for further analysis,” the white interviewer said. He still had some reservations about Su Jie, but it seemed he couldn’t influence the overall situation.

“Mr. Su Jie, you’ve passed our test, but whether you’ll be hired depends on the boss’s approval. Your data has been collected; please go back and wait for my notification,” Cass said. 

“No problem.” Su Jie wasn’t really taking the job application seriously. If he got the job, it would be great to help Zhang Manman; if not, it wasn’t his fault.

Coming out of the basement and back into the lobby, Zhang Manman was still leisurely sipping her coffee, looking at the numerous messages on her phone. Seeing Su Jie come out, she simply asked, “All done?”

From Zhang Manman’s expression, she seemed to be absolutely certain.

“I’ve passed all four tests, but whether I get the job depends on Mr. Larry’s decision,” Su Jie said with a smile. “Judging from your expression, it seems like you’re certain I’ll get the bodyguard position?”

“If Larry doesn’t think much of you, it’ll be his loss, and his life might even be in danger,” Zhang Manman stood up. “A master of your level doesn’t even need to apply. They’d pay a fortune to hire you. Like the creator of God, Odell—if Larry wanted to hire him, he couldn’t even get him.”

“I’m not famous yet, so I can only take it one step at a time,” Su Jie said. “Go back after this is settled. There’s one more thing I need to tell you; that Qin Hui is a ruthless character. It seems he’s trying to infiltrate the Zhang family to gain some benefits. You’d better be careful.”

“I already knew. He’s just an ambitious person. He has some skills, but his ambition is clearly disproportionate to his abilities.” Zhang Manman opened her phone, which displayed some information about Qin Hui: “This man’s grandfather studied in the Soviet Union in his early years, learned a complete set of special agent training courses, and has many connections. He started intentionally cultivating him from a young age, and the training has had some effect, but he’s far inferior to you. After all, he’s not a professional special agent, and even a professional might not be able to pass Larry’s interview.”

“In that case, let’s go.” Su Jie remembered Qin Hui; he would be careful to guard against this person in the future.

The two returned to the small building.

Zhang Manman said, “You rest here. I’m going out to run some errands. If you want to go out for a walk, you can. With your survival skills, you don’t need me to tell you anything.”

As she spoke, she tossed the keys to Su Jie and went out. 

Su Jie took the key, opened a can of food, ate it, drank water, and then lay down to rest, conserving all his energy to maintain his peak performance at all times.

He lay sprawled out, his breathing, both exhaling and contracting, already possessing a primordial quality.

The so-called primordial state is like that of an infant, fearless, with flowing energy, impervious to evil, poison, wild beasts, and birds of prey.

Su Jie was exploring the realm beyond the “living dead,” specifically the “enlightenment” within the seven characters of Minglun.

Stability, stillness, peace, severance, clarity, enlightenment, emptiness.

Liu Long had already comprehended these seven characters of Minglun to the point of severance, and Feng Hengyi was likely at the same level, severing all ties and emotions. However, Feng Hengyi had taken the concept of severance to a deeper level, thus entering the demonic path.

In Zen terms, he had gone too far in severing, unaware that after severance lies life.

But such people are extremely terrifying; once they gain insight into something, their mental state can elevate in an instant.

Su Jie has now solidified his foundation in “Clarity,” maintaining a state of clarity akin to that before death. But this is still not enough; he must reach the realm of “Enlightenment,” further elevating his spiritual realm and physical constitution.

Don’t let his youth fool you; he knows that the younger he is, the more he needs to improve his spiritual realm. If he gets older, his physical strength simply won’t increase.

This is the tragedy of the physical body.

The flesh and blood body will eventually decay.

Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.

Deep within Su Jie lies a faint sorrow. The higher his spiritual cultivation, the more he feels the brevity of life, how quickly it vanishes, how a lifetime of accumulated knowledge and wisdom dissipates.

Therefore, he cultivates with increasing urgency, daring not to slacken in the slightest.

In the past, he forced himself to cultivate; later, he felt uncomfortable if he didn’t cultivate for a day; and still later, he completely integrated his life into his cultivation practice. This is what is meant by “calming the mind and maintaining tranquility.”

But now, his mindset has shifted again. He feels the impermanence of life and death, the brevity of life, and the need to cherish every moment. This is a sense of urgency regarding life and death, a profound terror following a moment of clarity.

He deeply feels that he is rowing against the current in a river, and at the end of the river is a bottomless waterfall, from which he will fall and be shattered to pieces.

That is the end of life.

“Ordinary people have no concept of life. When they are young, they feel that life is long. In middle age, they are entangled in worldly affairs and have no time to think about death. Only in old age do they feel the threat of death, but by then it is too late.” This thought surged in Su Jie’s mind: “This is the mindset of a person throughout their life, and now, I feel the threat of death every moment. It’s truly urgent…”

If things continue as they are now, Su Jie could live to be about 120 years old, and he is not yet 20, meaning he has a hundred years left.

But he feels himself sliding step by step into an endless abyss, irreversible, and even with his desperate struggle, he cannot slow down the rate of decline.

Unbeknownst to him, he had already entered into the various philosophical perspectives on life and death held by great philosophers throughout history.

Confucius, standing by a river, once said: “Time flows on like this river, never ceasing day or night.”

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